COTABATO CITY — Over the weekend, officials from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao's (BARMM) Special Geographic Area (SGA) were sworn into office, marking a significant development in the region's administrative and political landscape.
According to Philippines News Agency, eight municipal mayors, vice mayors, and council members took their oaths before BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim on Saturday at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex. The ceremony underscored a fresh phase of leadership underpinned by commitments to moral governance and the advancement of the Bangsamoro community. "The ceremony signals a new dawn of leadership and hope deeply rooted in our advocacy of moral governance and our aspiration for an empowered, cohesive, and progressive Bangsamoro," stated Ebrahim.
Lawyer Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba, BARMM's interior minister, highlighted during a press conference that these newly established municipalities are yet to be included in the National Tax Allocation (NTA) from the national government, which is crucial for their operational funding. "We are coordinating with the national government through the Department of Budget and Management for their NTA," she noted, adding that the regional government has temporarily allocated funds to ensure the municipalities' operational continuity.
The SGA consists of predominantly Muslim areas that chose to be part of the expanded autonomous region in a 2019 plebiscite. The villages within this area are now organized into eight municipalities — Pahamuddin, Kadayangan, Nabalawag, Tugunan, Malidegao, Ligawasan, Old Kabakan, and Kapalawan — previously parts of Carmen, Kabacan, Pikit, Midsayap, Aleosan, and Pigcawayan in North Cotabato.
Furthermore, Mohd Asnin Pendatun, a representative for the BARMM government, disclosed that there is an ongoing effort to have the national legislature pass a bill that would formally establish a new BARMM province comprising these eight municipalities, aiming to solidify their administrative and fiscal structures.